Separating apparatus



June 20, 1961 A. s. LUNDY SEPARATING APPARATUS Filed June 27, 1958 lNVE/VTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent "ice 2,989,146 SEPARATING APPARATUS Alvin S. Lundy, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., assignor to Claude B. Schneible Co., Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed June 27, 1958, Ser. No. 745,035 6 Claims. (Cl. 183-77) This invention relates to separating apparatus, and, more particularly, separating apparatus effective for recovering materials from a gaseous medium in which they are carried or suspended. Such materials may be either liquids or solids, and the apparatus also finds utility in classifying solid particles.

, For example, the apparatus of the invention has utility in the treatment of dry gaseous media such as the heated gases flowing from the stack of a cupola, blast furnace, cement furnace, and the like. It may also be advantageously used in: the treatment of exhaust air or other gas from dust-generating operations such as grinding, machining, screening, mixing, conveying, etc.

Previous devices depending on gravimetric and centrifugal forces for removal of particulate matter from gas streams have generally not been sufiiciently effective. Resort to electronic devices, fabric filters, and wet type separators for more effective collection of particles involves more cost and maintenance and, at a point where there is generally little return for the action provided.

.It is a general object of this invention to provide a novel separating apparatus which affords a high degree of separation between a gas and particulate matter. Another object is to provide this by a more effective use of increased centrifugal and multiple dynamic forces acting on the particles. Still another object is to provide a novel separating apparatus employing a refuser wheel which cooperates with a novel casing structure to provide a high separation efiiciency. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention will be described, in conjunction with an illustrative embodiment, in the accompanying drawing, in which- FIGURE 1 is an elevational view, partially in section, of an apparatus embodying teachings of this invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a partial sectional view of the apparatus of FIGURE 1 taken along the line 22 thereof.

In the illustration given, the numeral 10 designates generally a casing having rotatably mounted therein a refuserwheel -11. Casing 10 is provided with a gas inlet 12, a dust outlet 13 and a gas outlet 14. Casing 10 includes a pair of generally parallel vertically extending side walls 15 and 16. Side walls 15 and 16 are connected together in a chamber providing generally box-like shapeby end walls 17 and 18. At their upper ends, end walls 17 and 18 are curved upwardly and inwardly in a generally arcuate nature as at 19 to provide a generally semi-cylindrical housing with side walls 15 and 16. Refuser wheel 11 is mounted on a shaft 20 which is located adjacent the axis of cylindrical upper portion of casing 10. In the illustration given, the wheel 20 is slightly laterally ofiset from the center of the housing, shaft 20 being journaled for free rotation in casing '10 in a pillow block 21 which may be supported on a pedestal 22 provided as part of casing 10. The refuser wheel speed and/or diameter may be varied to control the size of the particles collected.

The gas outlet 14 includes a length of pipe 23 which is axially aligned with shaft 20 and communicates with the interior of refuser wheel 11.

The refuser wheel may be of any suitable construction employed for the rejection outwardly of solid or liquid Patented June 20, 1961 particles while at the same time permitting inflow of the gaseous medium free from the particles, the gas flowing inwardly through the refuser wheel 11 and into the outlet 14. The form illustrated includes a solid end plate 24 and a centrally apertured end plate 25, end plate 25 being positioned adjacent pipe 23. Spaced between plates 24 and 25 are longitudinally extending radial vanes 26. With this construction, the end plates 24 and 25 along with the radial vanes 26 provide radial channels through which the gas may flow inwardly from the periphery of thewheel. The rate of rotation of the wheel may be increased to increase the spinning of the gas stream and hence the centrifugal force on the particles. The aperture 25a in end plate 25 is aligned with pipe 23 and also communicates with the radial passages defined by end plates 24 and 25 and radial vanes 26. If desired, additional intermediate vanes (not shown) can be provided which are parallel to end plates 24 and 25 and thus transverse to vanes 26, thereby providing an even greater number of gas passages. Suitable for use in the apparatus of this invention is the refuser wheel shown in C. B. Schneible Patent No. 2,507,461, and reference may be had to that patent for details of wheel construction not given herein.

Mounted within casing 10 and extending between side walls 15 and 16 is separator plate 27 which, as can be appreciated from a consideration of FIGURE 2, is gen erally arcuately formed in a downward fashion. Plate 27 terminates a spaced distance short of side walls 17 and 18 to provide slots or spaces 28 and 29, respectively.

Casing 10, below separator plate 27, is equipped with a hopper portion 30 which terminates in a downspout 31 having pivotally mounted therein a dribble gate or valve 32. It is desirable that there be a minimum flow of gas through the discharge gate. Excess flow may affect the settling and skimming action of the separator plate 27. It is to be understood, therefore, that hopper portion 30 may be enlarged to permit storage of collected material for periodic removal. Additional effective operation is obtainable through the provision of a divider plate 30a in hopper 30.

An inlet box 33 is provided which communicates with inlet 12, inlet 12 being generally arcuate or a segment of an annulus in periphery and being positioned immediately above separator plate 27 Separator plate 27 for optimum performance of the apparatus, extends at least to the ends of the annular segment'defining opening 12 and preferably higher on the end thereof adjacent the gas inlet and of the annular segment as designated b the numeral 33 in FIGURE 1. 1

In the operation of the apparatus, it is to be understood that a fan or other gas-moving device (not shown) is employed. It may be either on the inlet or outlet side of the collector. Preferably, the fan or other gasmoving device should be on the outlet side tominimize abrasion thereof by the dust particles enteringthe casing 10. j

Gas enters tangential to the housing through the side opening 12. The separator plate 27, which is preferably solid, directs the gas stream as it enters the casing 10 and permits separation of a small portion of the gas stream containing the bulk of the solid particles from the main gas stream. As the amount of gas diverted is quite small, gas currents in the settling chamber 34 are kept to a minimum. In addition, the separator plate materially decreases the power requirements for the refuser wheel. For certain applications, this permits the use of a freely rotatable refuser wheel 11 without the need of going to a separate motor source,

With the refuser wheel 11 rotating in the fashion indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 1, the edge portions of the gas annulus set up by the cooperation of refuser Wheel U 11 and casing 10, are directed toward space 29. The heaviest particles will be found at the outer edge of the annulus and in reaching space 29 will be skimmed off for deposit in the lower portion of chamber 10. Any particles escaping the settling portion of the casing reenter the gas annulus at the extreme periphery thereof through space 28, thus insuring subsequent removal of them a second .time at the separating slot or space 29. Gas before leaving the casing It passes from the outside to the inside of the refuser wheel 11 and thus is subjected to additional dynamic forces tending further to separate dust particles therefrom.

I have found that slot or space 29 should be of a size large enough to peel oif the outer edge of the rotating gas annulus. However, this layer must be maintained small enough so as not to produce an excessive velocity across the lower portion of chamber 10. The slot or space 28 should be larger than slot 29 and optimum results are obtained when slot 28 is about greater than slot 29.

Equally satisfactory results are obtained when the refuser wheel is oifset slightly from the precise center of the upper portion of the casing toward slot 29 thereby compressing the gas slightly just prior to its entry into the settling chamber.

While, in the foregoing specification, an embodiment of the invention has been set forth in considerable detail for the purpose of illustration, it will be understood that such details may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a dry dust collector employing a refuser wheel, a generally rectangular casing comprising two interconnected sets of parallel, vertically-extending side walls, the lower portions of said side walls being inwardly convergent to define a hopper, a constricted throat below said hopper equipped with gate means effective to permit only solid particles to pass through said throat, the upper portions of one set of said side walls being inwardly arcuate to define with the other set of side walls a hemi-cylindrical shape, said hemi-cylindrical shape having an axis extending normal to said other set of side walls, a refuser wheel rotatably mounted in said casing and having an axis parallel to the axis of said hemi-cylindrical shape, a concavo-convex separator plate mounted in said casing and defining a generally cylindrically shaped chamber with said hemi-cylindrical shape, said plate extending between said other set of side walls but terminating short of said one set of side walls to define therewith a pair of gasflow passages constituting the only communication between said chamber and said throat, said wheel being rotatably mounted in said chamber, and gas inlet and outlet means for communicating said chamber with the exterior of said casing, said gas outlet means extending through one of said other set of side walls and lying on the axis of said wheel, said gas inlet means extending through one of said other set of side walls and being positioned adjacent the periphery of said cylindrically shaped chamber.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said gas inlet means includes an opening in one of said other set of side walls, said opening being arcuate in shape to conform to said separator plate, said opening being positioned in said one side wall immediately above said separator plate.

3. In a dry dust collector employing a refuser wheel, the improvement comprising a casing rotatably supporting said wheel, said casing having two interconnected sets of generally parallel, vertically-extending side Walls, the bottom portions of said side walls being inwardly convergent to define a hopper, one of said sets of side walls being inwardly arcuate at the other portions thereof to define with the other set of side walls a generally rectangular chamber having the upper portion hemi-cylindrically shaped with said hopper spaced therebelow, said hopper being equipped with constricted throat means to prevent gas passage therethrough, a concavo-convex separator plate mounted in said casing extending between the upper set of said side walls, the upper portions of said side walls and said plate defining a cylindrical space with said wheel positioned centrally thereof and having an axis normal to said other set of side walls, said plate terminating a spaced distance from said one set of side walls to provide elongated, slot-like passages communicating said cylindrical space with said hopper, said passages providing a gas inlet for gas entering said hopper and a gas outlet for gas leaving said hopper, said gas inlet being smaller than said gas outlet, a particle-transporting gas inlet opening in a casing side wall communicating with said cylindrical space, and gas outlet means in a casing side wall aligned with the axis of said refuser wheel.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which the said inlet opening is a segment of an annulus located immediately above said plate, said casing being equipped with gas entrance means for the particle-transporting gas at one end of said segment.

5. The structure of claim 3 in which the axis of said wheel is offset from the axis of the cylindrical space and adjacent said gas inlet passage.

6. In apparatus of the character described, a hollow casing having side walls defining a hemi-cylindrical top portion, a generally rectangular intermediate portion, and a hopper-shaped bottom portion, said hopper-shaped bottom portion being equipped with gate means for retarding the outflow of solid particles and thereby restricting gas from issuing downwardly from said hopper-shaped bottom portion, a concave-convex separator plate mounted in said casing and defining with said hemi-cylindrical top portion a generally cylindrical chamber, a refuser wheel rotatably mounted in said chamber and having an axis oifset from the axis of said cylindrical chamber, said plate terminating spaced distances from the casing side walls parallel to said axes and providing thereby internal passages in said casing communicating with said chamber, the passage adjacent the said wheel axis being smaller than the other of said passages.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

